8 Medals Claimed by Panther Athletes at State Track and Field

The largest High School track and field meet in the country began in Wichita, Kansas, on Friday, May 29th. 343 schools had at least one athlete represented in an event, 4,415 total athletes competed over the two-day meet, and 114 state champions were crowned. Concordia sent 10 athletes to compete in individual events, as well as 2 relay teams competing.

After day one, Concordia had 5 state placers, and the girls' 4x100 team has advanced to the Saturday final! Stanley Dervil finished 8th in the high jump, Gabi Lange finished 6th in the pole vault, Avery Kueker finished 8th in the long jump and 4th in the high jump, and Javen Garcia finished 8th in the long jump.

On Saturday, Concordia added 3 more state placers! Charlize Cash finished 6th in the triple jump, while Avery Kueker finished right behind her in 7th, and the girls' 4x100 relay team, consisting of Madalyn Bowers, Lillian Nuss, Avery Kueker, and Marlee VanMeter, finished in 7th.

To see the full final results from the meet, CLICK HERE.

Here are the full results for Concordia on Friday, the State Placers/Finalists are in BOLD:

-7:45 Boys High Jump- Stanley Dervil is the first Panther to earn a medal after finishing in 8th place! Dervil cleared his first jump of 5'10 on his third try. Dervil then cleared 6' on his first try. This put him in 8th place, tied with Kane Nash of Labette County, who both cleared 6' on their first jump. Four other athletes cleared 6, but not on their first jump, which is the tiebreaker to determine final placings. Dervil was not able to clear the next height of 6'2 but finished on the podium! Currently, Liam Tesmer of Bishop Miege won the state championship after clearing 6'6.

-7:45 Girls Pole Vault- Gabi Lange is the second Panther to earn a medal after finishing in 6th place! Lange cleared her first vault of 9'6 on her first try. She then cleared her vault of 10' on her second try. Finally, Lange cleared her final height of 10'6 on her first try to clinch a state medal! Lange was not able to clear the next height of 11' as only two athletes were able to clear this tough height. Lange finished in 6th due to three athletes clearing their vault of 10' on their first attempt, whereas Lange cleared it on her second attempt. Those three athletes finished tied for 3rd as nobody got over 11'. Finishing in 2nd place was Clara Bockelman of Louisburg, who did clear 11' on her first try. Winning the state title is Jenna Lackey of Buhler, who is still currently vaulting after just clearing 11'6 on her second attempt.

-9:30 Girls Long Jump- Avery Kueker is the third Panther to earn a medal after finishing in 8th place! On her 5th jump, Kueker jumped 16'8, three inches ahead of Addy Wilson of Wellington, who jumped 16'5 and finished just off the podium. Dru Zeka of Wellington wins the state championship with a jump of 19 feet.

-9:45 Girls 4X100- Madalyn Bowers, Lillian Nuss, Marlee VanMeter, & Avery Kueker. The Lady Panther relay team has advanced to the finals! Concordia finished in 5th place after the two heats with a time of 49.94. Concordia will run in the 4x100 final on Saturday at 3 p.m.

-11:10 Girls 300 Hurdles- Charlize Cash finished 8th in her heat with a time of 49.75. This time was not enough to advance to the finals on Saturday, finishing in 16th overall in class 4A. Rylee Meyer of Andale leads after the preliminaries with a time of 44.73. Cash will now focus on the girls' triple jump at 1:15 on Saturday afternoon.

-11:15 Boys Long Jump- Javen Garcia earned the 5th State Medal for Concordia with an 8th place finish! On Garcia's 3rd jump of the day, he landed in the sand with an impressive mark of 21'1.75. This jump was good enough to put Garcia on the podium! Garcia finished ahead of Lawrence Chaney of Chanute, who finished 9th with a jump of 20'11. Liam Tesmer of Bishop Miege claimed his second State Championship of the day with a jump of 22'11.25. Matthew Naillieux also competed in the high jump and finished in 18th with a jump of 18'2. 

-11:15 Girls High Jump- Avery Kueker earns her second State Medal of the day with a 4th place finish! Kueker jumped 4'10 on her first try, 5' on her first try, and 5'2 on her first try to finish tied for 4th. Kueker tied with Adalyn Schooler of Tonganoxie and Madilyn Schadegg of Rock Creek. Dru Zeka from Wellington won another State Championship with a jump of 5'8.

-12:25 Boys 200- Javen Garcia finished 13th in the state after the preliminary round on Friday. Garcia finished 6th in his heat and 13th overall after a time of 22.64. Garrett Gleason of Buhler leads the field going into the final on Saturday with a time of 21.53.

-12:45 Girls 4X400- The Lady Panther team, consisting of Marlee VanMeter, Hannah Bridwell, Rylie Jessup, and Lillian Nuss, finished 14th in the state with a time of 4:14.28. Concordia finished 7th in their heat and 14th overall and did not advance to Saturday's final. Baldwin leads the field going into Saturday's final with a time of 3:58.59.

Here are the full results for Concordia on Saturday, the State Placers are in BOLD:

-8:30 Girls 100- Lillian Nuss finished 17th in the state after the preliminary round on Saturday morning. Nuss finished 9th in her heat and 17th overall after a time of 13.05. Rylee Meyer of Andale won the state championship with a time of 11.98.

-11:30 Girls Shot Put- Gabi Lange finished in 13th in the state. On her first throw of competition, Lange threw 34'0.5. This mark just missed the 35-foot mark necessary to earn three more throws. Jayla McClinton of Bishop Miege won the state championship with a throw of 42'7.75.

-11:30 Boys Pole Vault- Burke Kindel competed in the pole vault but was not able to record a height. Kindel was not able to clear the opening height of 12-6 to record a mark. Colt Lane of Andale won the state championship with a 16' vault on his first attempt.

-1:15 Girls Triple Jump- Charlize Cash earned the 6th State Medal for Concordia with a 6th place finish! Cash recorded a jump of 35'3 on her 6th and final attempt to earn a medal and spot on the podium. Avery Kueker earned her third individual medal and 7th Concordia team medal with a 7th-place finish! On her 6th and final jump, Kueker recorded a mark of 34'6.75 to finish in 7th! Ayanna Robertson of Parsons won the state championship with a jump of 37'8.

-3:00 Boys Triple Jump- Reese Franklin finished in 11th in the state. On his second jump of the competition, Franklin landed in the sand with a mark of 42'8.50. Franklin just missed the podium as Ethan Eck of Andale finished in 8th with a jump of 43'5.75. Adrian Adigun from Hugoton won the state championship with a jump of 47'11.25

-3:00 Girls 4X100 Finals- The Lady Panther relay team of Madalyn Bowers, Lillian Nuss, Marlee VanMeter & Avery Kueker finished in 7th place, earning medals! In the final race, Concordia finished with a time of 50.47 to earn 7th. Clearwater won the state championship with a time of 48.45.

-5:10 Girls 800- Hannah Bridwell was the final Concordia athlete to compete at the state championship meet. Bridwell ended the season finishing in 17th place in the state after an 800 time of 2:33.31. Kami Moore of Baldwin won the state championship with a time of 2:16.90, just finishing ahead of her Bulldog teammate Shea Griffith, who finished second with a time of 2:18.41 as Baldwin finished first and second.

Below are the final podium team scores for the Class 4A Girls:

1 Andale    98
2 Buhler    75
3 Baldwin    57
4 Rock Creek    51
5 Wellington    50
6 Paola    46
7 Eudora    29
8 Louisburg    28
14 Concordia    15

Concordia was the third-best team out of the NCKL, finishing behind Rock Creek (4th) and Wamego (12th). Below are the final podium team scores for the Class 4A Boys:

1 Andale    79.50
2 Buhler    70
3 Wamego    67
4 Bishop Miege    58
5 Eudora    54.50
6 Rock Creek    40
7 McPherson    37
8 Hugoton    34
28 Concordia    1.50